THIS WEEKEND
Topping a sluggish frame at the box office, The
Matrix recaptured the number one spot
while last weekend's champ, Life,
fell sharply and a pair of new releases had weak openings. Most films enjoyed
low declines but for the first time in nearly six months, the top ten movies
failed to sell at least $50M in tickets. Despite the cyclical downturn
in theatrical activity that is typical in late-April, the month could still
set a new box office record anchored by the strength of The
Matrix.

Back in the driver's
seat, The Matrix was
the most popular movie at North American theaters with a final
gross of $12.6M. Still enjoying low declines in its fourth frame, the Keanu
Reeves-Laurence Fishburne sci-fi smash has thrusted its way to a blockbuster
cume of $117.1M and looks headed for $160-170M domestically. The
Matrix is the second film this year, after
Payback,
to debut at number one, fall from the top, and then reclaim the box office
crown. The Matrix is
also on course to deliver the best April gross ever for a single film with
a projected $119M within the 30-day period. Later this week, the action
thriller will pass Speed's
$121M take to become Keanu Reeves' top domestic performer.

Producer Joel Silver
is currently discussing a sequel to The
Matrix with directors Andy and Larry Wachowski
and Warner Bros. Produced in Sydney, Australia for $60M, the effects-filled
action thriller is well on its way to being an extremely profitable global
behemoth as it will precede Star Wars:
The Phantom Menace in most international
markets feeding off the immense hunger for a quality science fiction picture.

Tumbling a disturbing
45% in its second weekend of release, the Eddie Murphy-Martin Lawrence
prison comedy Life
took in $11.3M to boost its ten-day sum to $37M. If Life
continues to decline by roughly 40% per week, the Universal film should
eventually top out at around $65M putting it in the same neighborhood as
1992's Boomerang
(also starring Murphy and Martin) which rang up $70M in domestic theatrical
sales.

Drew Barrymore continued
to charm moviegoers with Never Been Kissed
which saw $6M in ticket sales in its third undercover operation. The Fox
comedy, which was also produced by the young firestarter, depreciated just
29% and boosted its 17-day gross to an impressive $31M. If it keeps up
this healthy pace, Never Been Kissed
may manage to smooch up a rosy $50M reinforcing Barrymore's status as a
bankable star who can make young adults fork over the cash at the box office.
The actress will be heard in Fox's upcoming animated feature Planet
Ice, and is developing a motion picture
update on Charlie's Angels
with Cameron Diaz and The Wedding Singer
director Frank Coraci.

Pushing Tin,
a film about macho air-traffic controllers starring John Cusack and Billy
Bob Thornton, took off in fourth place with a $3.6M opening. Landing in
1,283 runways, the Fox title averaged a so-so $2,771 per theater - or more
than double the average of the weekend's other freshman film Lost
and Found. Its Friday-to-Saturday increase
of 29% was good but with a mild start and many high-profile summer pictures
right around the corner, it will be difficult for Pushing
Tin to survive in the weeks ahead.

Closing in on the $100M
milestone, Analyze This eased
by just 21% and grossed $3.1M this weekend. Starring Robert De Niro and
Billy Crystal, the Warner Bros. hit has reached $95.5M in domestic ticket
sales and should hit the century mark early next week.

David Spade fans weren't
exactly in search of new comedy from the television and film star as his
newest pic Lost and Found
opened in sixth with a depressing $3M while playing very wide in 2,469
theaters. The awful $1,225 average for the Warner Bros. comedy indicated
that moviegoers had almost no interest in spending money on this poorly-reviewed
picture. Spade has had better luck in the past when teaming up with other
comedians in films like Senseless,
Black Sheep,
and Tommy Boy.

Buena Vista's high
school comedy Ten Things I Hate About You
slid only 27% to $2.7M. After its fourth term, the $16M pic has collected
a solid $28.8M and has held up very well despite intense competition from
other teen-oriented films in the marketplace.

Sony's Go
took in another $2M giving it $12.5M thus far. Steve Martin and Goldie
Hawn saw their comedy The Out-of-Towners
collect $2M as well which puts its total to date at $23.3M. The Paramount
film will probably fall short of Martin's previous spring comedy Sgt.
Bilko which grossed $30.2M in 1996, and
will finish well below the $58.5M of 1992's Housesitter
which also paired the two veteran actors. Look for Steve Martin and fellow
top ten resident Eddie Murphy this July in the summer comedy Bowfinger.
Forces of Nature
rounded out the top ten with $1.6M raising its cume to $48.1M surpassing
the $46.8M of Sandra Bullock's last film Practical
Magic.

Two arthouse favorites
slipped out of the top ten over the weekend. Multiple Academy Award winner
Shakespeare in Love
grossed $1.3M, off 28%, to push its cume to $91.7M. The Gwenyth Paltrow
picture has spent a total of fourteen frames in the top ten (more than
any other movie this year) but has never enjoyed a weekend gross of more
than $8M. Meanwhile, Robert Altman's latest feature, Cookie's
Fortune, also absorbed $1.3M, down 28%,
putting its total at $5.2M. The October Films release is still playing
in just 559 theaters.

Launching in 256 theaters,
Miramax's eXistenZ
from director David Cronenberg grossed $810,262. That gave the psychological
thriller a decent average of $3,165 per theater.

Movie patrons living
in New York and Los Angeles rallied behind Paramount's dark comedy Election
which grossed a superb $119,080 in only
six locations (with eight total screens) giving it a strong $19,847 per-theater
average. Directed by Alexander Payne (Citizen
Ruth), Election
is a satirical look at high school politics
and student-teacher relationships which stars Matthew Broderick as the
faculty advisor whose life is crumbling apart and Reese Witherspoon as
the overachieving candidate for class president. The well-reviewed film
experienced a promising 53% boost in sales on Saturday compared to Friday
which indicates that it is reaching beyond teens flocking to high school
flicks, and that good word-of-mouth may be spreading. Paramount will expand
Election
into more markets this Friday.

Compared to projections,
The Matrix
came close to my $13.5M forecast while Life
was below my $14M prediction. Newcomers Pushing
Tin and Lost
and Found opened a little worse than my
$5M projections for each.

Take this week's NEW
Reader Survey on Entrapment.
In last week's survey, readers were asked which of five non-Star Wars summer
movies they were most looking forward to. Of 2,373 responses, 42% selected
Eyes Wide Shut,
24% voted for Wild Wild West,
19% said Austin Powers 2,
8% indicated Tarzan,
and 7% chose South Park.

Be sure to read the
Weekly Rewind column which reports on this
week in 1995. This Wednesday's new column focuses on Sean Connery's films
from the 1990's. For reviews of The Matrix
and Life visit
Chief's Movie
Review Page.

The top ten films grossed
$48M which was up 3% from last year when The
Big Hit opened at number one with $10.8M,
but down 10% from 1997 when Volcano
erupted at the top with $14.6M.

Be sure to check back
on Thursday for a complete summary, including projections, for next
weekend when Fox's Entrapment
debuts.

This column is updated three times each week
: Thursday (upcoming weekend's summary),
Sunday (post-weekend analysis with
estimates), and Monday night (actuals).
Source : EDI, Exhibitor Relations. Opinions expressed in this column are
those solely of the author.